North Tees trust improves CQC rating

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated the services provided by North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust as ‘Good’ overall, improving from ‘Requires Improvement’.

The latest inspection into urgent and emergency care, medical care and maternity care, due to them being regarded as suspected risk areas, saw the rating for effectiveness improve from ‘Requires Improvement’ to ‘Good’, after finding evidence of good multidisciplinary working, seven day services and some health promotion.

Additionally, the rating for safety, which remained ‘Good’, acknowledged incidents being investigated and managed appropriately with inspectors seeing evidence of learning following incidents and noticeable robust systems in place to manage staffing shortfalls which helped maintain safe patient care.

Elsewhere, the rating for effectiveness improved from ‘Requires Improvement’ to ‘Good’, caring standards remained as ‘Good’, with staff being acknowledged as kind, caring and compassionate and had a good understanding of the needs of patients. The overall rating improved to ‘Good’.

Ellen Armistead, Deputy Chief Inspector, Hospitals for the North, said: “Since our last inspection in July 2015, the rating for the trust has improved from ‘Requires Improvement’ to ‘Good’. This represents very good progress, the trust are to be congratulated for their dedication and hard work. Inspectors observed outstanding examples of care. Staff showed determination and creativity to overcome obstacles to delivering care for vulnerable people and those with additional needs. We witnessed medical professionals going above and beyond the call of duty."

“At trust board level the executive team had the experience, capability and integrity to ensure that strategy could be delivered and risks to performance addressed. They were knowledgeable about issues and priorities for the quality and sustainability of services, understood the challenges and were taking action to address them. The trust has demonstrated that it can address areas that need improvement. It is clear the trust has the vision and leadership to sustain its improvement and I look forward to seeing further progress at the next inspection.”

Julie Gillon, interim chief executive, said: “The achievements outlined and recognised by the CQC are testament to the dedication of everyone who works for and with the organisation – not only our doctors, nurses and other clinical staff on the frontline, but the hundreds of support staff, volunteers and partners who keep its services running smoothly around the clock, 365 days a year.

“Whilst this is a good report, it is important that we are not complacent as we know there will always be things that we can do better. No hospital or health care system is perfect and we still have much work to do to make sure our patients continue to experience high quality care for many years to come. We must continue to look to the future so that we build on our successes. We will keep listening to our staff, patients and the public so that we can improve the quality of care we provide even further.”